Intro For New Players
Expect it to be confusing at first. It will probably take a while to get your feet wet/feel somewhat comfortable. General Strategies Run the tutorial...or no? Completing the flight portion of the tutorial is much tougher than completing the ground and vehicle tutorials. Since flight online is also very difficult, and you will probably start out on the ground, you may wish to skip the flight tutorial for now and play your first online games on the ground. Add-On packs...or no? Sony sells add-on "booster" packs for Warhawk that include new maps and vehicles. While many standard games can be played online without any problem, if you finish an online round and the next game uses an add-on that you don't own, you will be forced off the server. Your options are to either buy the add-on packs and you'll have complete freedom, or set a set a filter on your Server List so that you're only shown servers for which you have "All Maps Resident". Play online or offline? Most Warhawk play is online. But while learning, you may wish to create a local game with just yourself to experiment. If you have 2-4 controllers, you can split the screen and now you'll have enemies (that you control) to experiment with in more ways. If you have 2-4 friends, you can learn a little offline, together, by playing offline games against each other. And, when you go online, those same 2-4 friends can still split the screen with you and all 4 of you can play in the same physical room in an online game against human opponents from around the world (in unranked servers only). Which Servers? Initially, play only on green-colored servers (those are official, ranked servers, limited just to newer players), or on player-created white-colored servers (which may be rank/stat-tracking or unranked) that have player-rank limits, so you're not playing against very advanced veterans. Of course, some VERY good players can be found on rank-limited servers. In some cases these are veterans who have reset their standing. To learn more about server types, interpreting their names, and their settings, see the thread "Guide: Official Server Names" posted by DeadSpider at the Sony Warhawk forums. (help the wiki! If DeadSpider doesn't object to you copying his post, transfer that info to the wiki, perhaps by starting an article on server names, so the info is preserved forever and others can add to it and refine it) Which Game Mode for Beginners? You can filter your server list to only show you games of a certain type. You may wish to do so. Some Game Modes are a little simpler and you may find them an easier way to get started. Deathmatch is obviously a very simple mode and can let you practice fighting techniques without worrying much about strategy. Or Team Deathmatch which is similar but will be a little less free-for-all chaotic. Another good beginner game mode is Capture the Flag. If you choose to stay near your home base as a flag defender, then the fight comes to you, you'll have teammates around, and you can help the team by getting good at killing flag grabbers. The drawback of course is that you're not learning the map, and, if there are significant lulls in attacks on your home flag (or anytime an opponent's managed to get away with it), then you're standing around idle not really helping your team. With any luck, you can still find some nearby enemies to hunt down. When you feel more capable, start going out and capturing bases. Then go for the other flag, or assist others. Run, Drive, Shoot, or Fly? At first, don't start flying in a warhawk unless you have a high tolerance for being killed very frequently. You become extremely visible on the radar, and you will most likely be killed very quickly by another warhawk, soldier with a rocket launcher, or some anti-aircraft turret. Being killed so often can make it harder to learn. Enter at your own risk/frustration. You might start by just getting your feet wet in a stationary SAM Turret or AA Turret. As a beginner, some of the hardest tasks to master will be flying, or being an expert with a tank. Some of the easiest skills you can develop will be manning a turret (simple as it is, there are things to learn about using turrets effectively), or developing your on-foot combat skills (there's a lot to learn to be a master on foot). And there are little helpful habits you can get in the practice of doing while on foot. Take down a few enemy warhawks when you get a chance. Place a few strategic land mines (you can only have 4 active on the ground at once, when you place a 5th, your 1st one disappears)...and shoot any enemy land mines you see. Shoot enemy air mines out of the air (if you're blue team, shoot the spiked "red reamers", if you're red team, shoot the rounded, non-spiked "blue balloons"). Don't leave home w/out at least an Automatic Rifle Pickup (machine gun-looking pickup with dark blue outline) and another 2 sets of Grenades pickups (canister-looking pickup with the green outline). You can carry a maximum of 6 grenades at a time. The Portable Rocket Launcher Pickup (long pickup with an orange outline) makes a great anti-warhawk and anti-tank weapon. Basic Facts and Controls You always start with a Pistol with unlimited ammo (though it does require reloading), 2 grenades, and a Knife. R1 is your favorite button. It is the default fire button for everything. (soldier, tank, warhawk, etc..) The Square button is your 2nd favorite. It is the "Action" button, and what you use to climb a ladder, get in/out of a tank/jeep/warhawk, etc.. On foot you can take out a tank with the Flame Thrower or a few Portable Rockets. On foot you can take out warhawks with a few Portable Rockets. Nothing scares a warhawk trying to shoot you like you launching a missile towards it. If the warhawk is close and you're under assault, don't wait for the Rocket Launcher to lock-on. Just "dumb-fire" the rocket right at the warhawk. Fighting Soldiers On-Foot (G2G = Ground to Ground) When engaged in a 1-on-1 ground battle soldier to soldier, while firing your gun, throw grenades at him continuously using L1. (having the full load of 6 grenades is really handy here. If they are not up close, the Automatic Rifle may be your best bet for killing them. (get to the rifle by pressing Right on the d-pad) If they are within approximately 10 feet, the Flame Thrower is awesome for killing them quickly. (get to the Flame Thrower by pressing Up and Left on the d-pad) If they are right next to you, you can kill them with one hit using your Knife. (get to the Knife by pressing Down on the d-pad) The Pistol can fire as fast as you can press it and has unlimited ammo! (get to the Pistol by pressing Left on the d-pad). It does, however, require reloading at least every 20 shots. Remember to reload when there's a break in the action by pressing the weapon's appropriate button on the d-pad (excluding the flamethrower sniper and binoculars Turrets There are 2 types of turrets: Flak Turret and Homing Missile Turret. Both turrets have their reticule turn red when an enemy aircraft is in range. The Anti-Aircraft turret shoots flak out rapidly, and can shoot about 25 times before needing to reload. This type of turret can also damage other large ground targets, like tanks and other turrets. The Homing Missile shoots two missiles at once and then needs to reload. Hold down R1 once an enemy is in range to get a lock (takes approx 3 secs), then release it to fire the missiles. These missiles can also be dumb-fired, and are effective at attacking slow-moving tanks and other turrets.